Water Chemistry

Questions of Chemistry

(The First Tank Guide)

This is a big one. There are all kinds of chemicals that you
could buy to put in your aquarium, however, most of these are
unnecessary.

What Chemicals Are Recommended for an Aquarium?

Probably the only two I would recommend for the beginner are a
dechlorinator and an Ichthyophthirius
(Ick or Ich) medication.

The first will help you with your water changes. Before adding
new water to the aquarium, you will
need to treat it to neutralize any chlorine or chloramine in the water
so that it will not harm your fish or your biological filter. There are many
different products on the market, and would recommend one of the
droplet types. They are easy to use and usually fairly cheap.

The Ick medicine... Well, I think that it is just something you
have to have. You will get Ick, not may, but will. Save yourself some
headache and pick up some medication before you have a problem. This
is really about the only diagnostic or treatment recommendation I will
give out, because Ick is about the only illness that can be reliably diagnosed
accurately by a non-veterinarian. Get a product with Malachite Green
as the active ingredient. It is the best stuff I have
found. Personally I would recommend QuICK Cure by Aquarium Products
(this is probably about the only product endorsement you will see here
unless I decide to start doing product reviews). I have had the best
luck with this. It can usually treat ich in just a couple of
days.

The most common chemistry questions I get are about pH. Either someone has used a pH buffer to try to
adjust the pH in their tank, and has had
disastrous results, or someone is trying to figure out how to adjust
their pH unnecessarily. Other people are trying
to troubleshoot pH changes or
differences between the pH in their source water and their aquarium
water. Many people don't seem to realize that most fish live in water
with a wide range of pH, and very few fish require any specific pH.

I also get a lot of questions about bacteria boosters and why many people don't
seem to get any benefit from themor seem to have disastrous
results from using them, even if they only use them once or
twice. Even though bacteria boosters are
not really chemicals, I thought this would be a good place to list
them...

Though many people have problems with water clarity in their fish
tank at one time or another, water clarifiers rarely work, unless
there wasn't a problem in the first place. Proper aquarium maintenance is
the solution to the problem of cloudy
aquarium water, not some chemical additive.

Medication, when properly used, can
be beneficial. However, when improperly used, medicines can be
disastrous for your fish and your tank. use medication with caution,
and preferably under the guidance of a veterinarian.

What Do You Need to Know About Aquarium Chemicals?

As a general rule, you don't want any chemicals other than a
dechlorinator. Before you consider purchasing any chemicals for your
aquarium, make sure you can answer these questions:

Why am I adding these chemicals?

What does the chemical do for me and for my aquarium?

What are the side effects of the chemical?

What do I do if the chemical doesn't do what I expect it to
do?

What happens if I do not use the chemical? Is there actually any
drawback to not using it?

How will this chemical interact with other chemicals I am using
in the tank?

Does this chemical address any need in the tank or for the
fish?

How do I know that the chemical did what it is supposed to have
done for me?

How do I know if the chemical is not working or is having a
negative side effect?

How do I correct for over action of the chemical?

Can I overdose my fish on this chemical? how much does it
take?

Will this chemical interfere in the short term or in the long
term with my filtration?

Will this chemical interact with any medications I may need to use or prevent me
from using medications (or some type of medication) at some time in
the future?

If I'm using chemical filtration, particularly carbon, will that
remove this chemical from the water before this chemical does whatever
it is this chemical is supposed to do for me?

If I am correcting something with this chemical, what is it that
I am correcting? How do I know that that thing is wrong I the first
place and needs corrected?

If you can easily answer and understand the question, the
answer, and why to ask the question in the first place, then you may
want to consider using some other chemicals in your
aquarium. Otherwise, you (and your fish) are probably better off
without the chemical.